


heartbeat

by atinywooyoung



Series: First Milestone Drabbles [2]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25408567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atinywooyoung/pseuds/atinywooyoung
Summary: Running in the middle of the streets to save a dog might have been admittedly extremely stupid and dangerous and it may or may not have shortened Seonghwa’s life by ten years but, as you stare at him with big wide glossy eyes, he can’t simply stay mad at you, especially when you have that pout of yours on your lips.
Relationships: Park Seonghwa/Reader
Series: First Milestone Drabbles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1840264
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> Your eyes are red, you cannot see them but you know they are because they started burning a few minutes ago. 

Your lips feel swollen and the rest of your face probably is just as much, your voice is hoarse whenever you try to speak and you have no doubts you look like an entire mess right about now.

You have been crying for hours, despite all your efforts to keep the tears at bay, despite knowing this was going to happen soon, despite the past few months spent trying to deal with all of this and come to terms with it.

 _It’s not the end of the world_ , you repeat to yourself like a mantra but you fail to convince yourself every single time because while that may be true, it still feels like absolute shit.

In less than twenty-four hours, Seonghwa will be gone. He’ll join the military and you’ll be left behind, waiting for him for more than a year with barely any chance of hearing his voice, seeing his face or feel his hands in yours.

You hug yourself tighter, the white hoodie you’re wearing engulfing you whole as you do so. It’s Seonghwa’s and it smells exactly like him: sandalwood and cinnamon with a hint of honey.

You sniff loudly, biting down your bottom lip to keep the sobs at bay and not start bawling all over again. You’ve promised you wouldn’t keep crying, you promised him you’d be strong for him because he can’t bear the thought of leaving you behind like this, broken and sad because of him.

“Baby,” his voice is soft and it forces your eyes to move away from the road to fix on his face.

His eyes hold all of the sadness of the world, his lips have turned into a tight, harsh line and you know he must be fighting his own pain right now and you are not making it any easier for him but you just cannot stop.

“I’m sorry,” you whisper, your voice as broken as you feel while you dry your face with the sleeves of his hoodie.

You force a small smile on your lips and nod your head a few times as to tell him it’s alright, you’re okay, there is nothing to be sad or worried about.

Of course, it is a lie and he knows it as well but he still smiles back at you and ruffles your hair to elicit a little chuckle out of you, probably one of his favourite sounds in the whole world.

You have spent the entire day together—you explored your bodies as if it were the first and last time, you’ve kissed each other’s lips as if the world depended on it, you hugged each other for hours as if trying to merge your bodies together and find the perfect solution to the problem.

You laughed and talked and then cried for half of it, you whispered sweet nothings into each other’s ears and then it was time to part ways, it was time for you to go home and tell him goodbye for lord knows how long because you won’t be able to see him off tomorrow morning.

It feels like such a cruel joke to be separated like this. It feels like a punishment even if you knew it was going to happen, even when it was him that decided _when_ to enlist. Truth be told, now is as good of a moment as any because you’ll never be able to let go of him with a happy smile on your lips and a light heart.

You let out a small sigh and move your gaze from his face to the road ahead, noticing how close you are to your apartment, how close you are to the moment you’ll have to say goodbye, for now.

Your eyes land on the dark bitumen then and you take in a sharp breath: something is lying on the ground in front of you and if you don’t stop now, you’re going to crush it.

“Oh my god, stop! STOP THE CAR!” Your left arm flies to Seonghwa’s torso as the scream of utter terror erupts from your mouth.

“Fuck!” Seonghwa hisses, pushing down on the brake with all his might to stop the vehicle’s course before it is too late.

The car jolts to a stop, throwing you forward and then harshly backwards onto your seat but you do not have time to catch your breath, you need to save the poor creature from getting smashed by the other cars roaming the streets all around you.

Without a second thought, you undo your seatbelt and rush out of the car without looking back, deaf to the way Seonghwa is screaming your name, blind to the moving cars almost hitting your frame as you run in the middle of the streets.

You can’t hear the loud honks nor the tires almost burning on the road as cars are forced to halt not to hit you and not even the yells that are thrown your way seems to be loud enough to reach your ears.

Your eyes can’t leave the poor frame of the little dog lying on the ground before you: there is blood on the bitumen, its little eyes are closed and small cries escape from its broken body at the evident pain it is trying to endure.  
“Are you out of your fucking mind?!”

It is Seonghwa’s voice that awakens you, shakes you into action to crouch down before the little puppy to take it inside your arms and, hopefully, bring him to safety.

Your eyes are glossy with tears as you lift them up to look at Seonghwa and it’s only when you do so that you realize how absolutely terrified he looks—pale, mouth hanging open, eyes wide and filled with fear and tears that shouldn’t belong there.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, _______? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” He is screaming at you, his body quivering as you hug the dog closer to your chest, your eyebrows knotting together as you fail to comprehend why he is mad at you for trying to save an innocent life.

“But… the dog… I…” Your voice trembles, your lips turning downward into a pout that makes him sigh and shake his head. 

He crouches down next to you, his eyes leaving your face for a second to fix it upon the poor lamenting creature lying in your arms and he sighs again.

“Ok, let’s take it to an animal clinic,” his voice is soft and tender now again, his expression has softened as well and you feel your muscles relax as you get up and walk next to him back to his car.

Your heart is still frantically beating inside your chest, the life of the little puppy hanging by a thread as Seonghwa manoeuvres the car in the city traffic, just as eager as you are to get the animal the help and attention it deserves.

It’s only when you walk past the clinic’s door and a vet takes the dog away from your grasp that you start breathing in normally again, your heavy heart feeling a little bit lighter at the prospect of actually bringing it in just in time and saving it from certain death.

Seonghwa silently guides you to one of the chairs in the long corridor and you sit down next to him, searching for his hands now that you don’t have anything else to hold.

They are trembling, there is some dried blood on your fingers and you cannot stop staring at them.

Without uttering a single word, Seonghwa leaves your side long enough to find a wet towel to clean your hands spotless so that you can stop fixating on them and the future of the little puppy.

“________,” he quietly calls your name and you lift up your gaze to find his eyes trained on you, his features twisted again in apprehension, “We really need to talk.”

You nod your head yes a couple of times, your mouth feeling dry as you try to shape it to form coherent words.

“I want you to understand that I’m not mad at you,” he says, turning his body towards you so that he can caress your head while keeping your gaze locked on him, “But what you did was stupid and dangerous and scared the hell out of me and I need you to promise me you’ll never do something like that ever again.”

His eyes seem to fill again with unshed tears, his bottom lip quivering as he keeps petting your head while searching your hands with his free one.

“I was just trying to save the poor dog,” you whisper, troubling your bottom lip with your teeth as you scoot a little bit closer to him, eager to feel his warmth all around you.

“Yes, I know that but you have to be more careful, you almost got hit by a car and kept going as if nothing happened and I’m—” he sighs, closing his eyes for a moment as you look up at him in disbelief.

You hadn’t notice, you hadn’t seen anything aside for the dog, you hadn’t heard anything aside from his voice.

“I… I didn’t see it…” you whisper, voice small and laced with all the confusion you feel inside. His terror, the tremor in his voice, his rage, they all make sense now because he has almost witnessed you getting hit by a car and damn, if the positions were reversed you’d be having a crisis right about now.

“Just promise me you’ll be careful baby, please,” his voice sounds pleading as he reaches out for you to engulf you into a tight hug. 

Automatically, your arms encircle his waist as well, pulling him tight into you as you inhale loudly his sweet scent.

“Promise me you won’t let anything happen to you… I can’t leave fearing something might happen to you, take you away from me forever.”

You hate how broken his voice sounds so you quickly nod your head yes and shower him with small “ _I promise’s_ ” until he is letting you go, placing a small kiss on the top of your head.

A genuine smile appears on your lips then, as you take his hand in yours just as the vet approaches the two of you, a reassuring smile on his features as he gladly informs you that the dog you rescued made it out of the surgery and will be ok in a few days.

“We will keep him here until full recovery but there is a matter we should discuss in private,” he says next, guiding you to a small office at the end of the corridor.

“The dog you brought in has not been registered so we have no owner to contact to get him back,” he says, joining his hands as he looks at the both of you almost expectantly, “In these cases, if nobody claims the dog within a week, we have to move it to a doghouse in hopes someone will adopt it.”

Your eyebrows knit together as a small pout forms on your lips. The thought of the poor dog being abandoned in a doghouse for the rest of his life crushes your heart.

“But, since you brought him in maybe you would consider adopting him yourself if nobody claims it by then?”

You notice the tint of hope in the Vet’s voice and you cannot discard how light your heart feels in your chest at the prospect of owning a dog and save him from a sad life inside a doghouse.

“Yes, of course, I’d love to,” you say, the words rushing out of your mouth as if you’re scared he’s gonna change his mind if you wait too long to agree.

Seonghwa’s mouth hangs open for a moment as he stares at you in disbelief but anything he might have wanted to say dies on his mouth the moment you turn to him, a radiant smile on your lips.

He hasn’t seen you this happy in days and it’s such a fresh breath of air he can’t find it in himself to burst down your bubble.

“Well, if that is the case, I’ll bring you to him,” the vet says, a little smile on his features as he walks you through the clinic so that you can reach your new little furry friend.

The dog is barely awake when you walk inside the room but he seems to recognize you nonetheless considering the way his tail moves a little up and down at the sight of you and your outstretched hand.

“Would you like to give him a name for us? We usually do it in these cases but since you might end up adopting him…”

You turn around and give him a firm nod while pondering your options. A part of you wants to call him like your boyfriend, just so that you have an excuse to call out his name every day while he is gone but then, an idea sparks up in your thoughts.

“Geon.” You say as you finally muster the courage to gently caress the little puppy, smiling at how soft his fur feels between your fingers.

The vet gives you an encouraging smile and disappears behind the big doors you came through to, you assume, get some papers to register the puppy. _Your_ puppy, hopefully.

“Geon?” Seonghwa asks, voice soft as he puts an arm around your waist, pulling you towards him to press a tender kiss atop your head, a sweet gesture that makes your smile deepen.

“It means ‘strength’,” you say in a whisper as you notice the dog falling asleep under your gentle touch, “He’s so small but so strong,” you add, turning your head to look up at Seonghwa.

He smiles in return, nodding his head a couple of times in understanding.  
“I’m glad we found him… he needed me and I need him as well,” you feel your cheeks burn with the sudden confession, your gaze fixing on the dog once more just so you can avoid Seonghwa’s eyes on you.

His grip around your waist turns tighter and he places another kiss on your head, humming in response to your words.

Of course, he understands what you mean. You’ll be incredibly lonely without him, thinking about him every day while he’s away, worrying about his happiness and well-being but with Geon, you’ll have something to keep you company, to keep you occupied. 

Geon, _strength_ , because that is exactly what he can be for you, your anchor through some of your darkest hours.

Somehow, it feels like the heavens might have sent you to him as a gift right when you needed it the most.

A smile stretches on your lips as you think about the day Seonghwa will come back to you, face radiant and eyes shining as he catches sight of you, waiting for him outside the military station with Geon tightly wrapped in your arms.


End file.
